In the News

The Public Rights / Private Conscience Project has been established as an important source for reliable and rigorous analysis of religious exemption law. Our experts are routinely quoted and interviewed in leading television, radio, and media outlets on religious exemption issues.

June 2, 2017Executive Order Addresses Religious Freedom in the WorkplaceAllen Smith, Society for Human Resource ManagementSHRM reports on the potential harms of President Trump's EO on "Freedom of Speech and Religious Liberty," quoting PRPCP Director Elizabeth Reiner Platt, and highlighting the joint statement issued on the EO by CAIR-NY and the PRPCP.

July 12, 2016GOP Religious Freedom Bill Ignites New Fight Over Gay MarriageRob Hotakainen, McClatchy DCProfessor Franke's testimony that the First Amendment Defense Act 'would “incapacitate the federal government from enforcing a wide range of laws, policies and regulations” now on the books.' is referenced in this piece from McClatchyDC.com

July 12, 2016Professors Slug It Out on Capitol Hill over Religious LibertyAnthony Gockowski, Campus ReformProfessor Franke testified before congress in a hearing for H.R. 2802 (The First Amendment Defense Act, FADA) saying the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause allows for religious belief but not religiously motivated action

June 16, 2016God, Guns and Gays: Lessons for Missouri in Orlando MassacreTony Messenger, St. Louis Post-DispatchIn the wake of the horrific shooting at #PulseOrlando, Tony Messenger review's PRPCP's analysis of Missouri's #SJR39, and the implications that such legislation have on violent crimes perpetrated on the basis of "sincerely held religious beliefs."

May 10, 2016The Erosion of Humanity, The Morning Heresy BlogPaul Fidalgo, The Center for InquiryProPublica's piece citing the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project's analysis and policy recommendations for the Obama Administration regarding a 2007 memo that enables faith-based charities to discriminate while having access to Federal funds is mentioned in this blog.

April 10, 2016HB1523 shows Mississippi Cultural, Political RiftEmily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press, featured in Daily JournalThe Public Rights/Private Conscience Project's analysis of HB1523 is highlighted in this piece produced by Emily Wagster Pettus of the AP, and the Daily Journal

April 9, 2016Mississippi Religious Freedom Law Legalizes HateDerrick Johnson, The Clarion-LedgerThe analysis of Mississippi's House Bill 1523 by the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project and other legal scholars is referenced in this piece by Derrick Johnson

March 11, 2016Dignity v. FreedomPeter J. Leithart, First ThingsProfessor Franke & Kara Loewentheil's work with the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project is cited in discussion

March 7, 2016Adoptive Mother Backed by High CourtBloomberg Radio - Bloomberg Law: Professor Steven Sanders and Professor Katherine Franke, discuss a Supreme Court ruling that overturned an Alabama court order prohibiting a lesbian woman from having contact with the three children she adopted and helped raise.

March 3, 2015Kara Loewentheil quoted in The Christian Post on whether Justices Ginsburg and Kagan should recuse themselves from an upcoming marriage equality case

November 17, 2014Kara Loewentheil interviewed on Bloomberg Law on ACA litigation

October 25, 2014Kara Loewentheil quoted in The Huffington Post on the claims of two ministers that they would be jailed for refusing to perform gay weddingsKara Loewentheil quoted in The Huffington Post on the claims of two ministers that they would be jailed for refusing to perform gay weddings

July 25, 2014Kara Loewentheil quoted in Religious Dispatches on whether anti-LGBT federal contractors have a RFRA claim to challenge Obama's executive order

July 16, 2014Kara Loewentheil interviewed on The Posner Show about why there should not be a new religious exemption in the executive order barring federal contractors from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity